Save Me Sorrow
by LuvHolic
Summary: Sequel to All We Know Is Falling. Hitsu x Hina. Now that they're together, how long will it last? Who is that man that resembles 'him? Why am I asking you questions?
1. Chapter 1

**Save Me Sorrow**

Sequel to All We Know Is Falling

Disclaimer: Does Not Own Bleach

* * *

All was well in the other dimension, known only to souls and a few humans, the Soul Society. After the apocalyptic war with the former captain and self-proclaimed 'God', Aizen Sōsuke, the much needed time of peace was short lived for the shinigami's of the Gotei 13. Seireitei was thrown into chaos, almost losing a fourth captain. But with the last seconds ticking away, the twisted hands of fate unwound and all was well. 

For one shinigami, the end of their own peace came all too soon.

* * *

Blinking images of the shinigami flashed through the streets of Seireitei as she used shunpō to reach the fuku-taichō meeting, trying to not be late more than 10 minutes. It would be a new personal record for Hinamori Momo. Sleeping in was always her vice. 

"Hinamori! You're late!" Nanao scolded her the instant she walked through the doors. She wrote a few notes on the clipboard she had in hand.

"Sumemasen." she softly bowed.

"Hinamori-chan, didn't Taichō wake you up?" Matsumoto smirked. "After all, you two are sharing a bedroom now." She winked and nudged her with an elbow.

"It's not like that, Matsumoto!" She waved her hand side to side.

Hinamori blushed, the room was quite small and the wooden walls echoed even if Matsumoto tried to whisper everyone was sure to hear.

Kira's jaw dropped in awe and Renji slapped his back for comfort while Hisagi chuckled.

"EHM. Back to business." Nanao's glasses glistened with seriousness, diverting attention away from her own flushed cheeks at indecent subjects.

Hinamori was the last one to leave the meeting room. She strolled her way back to her division, taking her time, only more paperwork was waiting on her desk.

She passed by a group of unranked shinigami's from her division loitering around a tree. "So this squad _still_ doesn't have a new taichō?"

Hinamori listened intently as she slowly walked. A few of them took a quick glance at her but continued their conversation. They were obviously new to the squad as they still hadn't remembered who their fuku-taichō was. Even so, the armband she wore said it all if they bothered to look. But they didn't give it a moments thought after a split second peek only for a taichō haori. She needed to have squad meetings more often.

"And the fuku-taichō, I heard she is weak and the only reason she got the seat was because of the taichō chose her."

"Are you talking about the pink-haired kid from Squad 11?"

"Squad 5, stupid."

"I've been here for only a year but she doesn't seem all that powerful to be a fuku-taichō. Did you hear? She and Squad 10 taichō are an item."

"Keh. No wonder she only does paperwork, she has a taichō to do everything else."

"Hell, I can be fuku-taichō! Maybe even taichō!" They all laughed at the ridiculous thought.

"EHM."

The men turned around to see a petite girl with her arms folded across her chest with a stern look on her face.

One of them gawked in awe when they noticed the armband and quickly nudged his buddies to shut up.

"You should be more careful at what you say." She pivoted her body to a half turn, "Not all your superiors are nice as me." She shot them the most malicious look she could make and raised her reiatsu, shoving the men to take a few steps back.

After lowering her reiatsu back to normal, she innocently smiled and left.

Their voices trailed off as she continued walking back to her office. She closed the door and leaned her back up against it's surface.

She disliked being mean, but they were new recruits and she learned a long time ago they had to be put in their place. The subtly-scare-the-hairs-off-their-ass technique she learned from observing Unohana-taichō worked really well. She could avoid yelling and what not.

Hinamori walked to the end of the room to the window right behind her desk. Between two book shelves and beneath the window was a counter. She stared at her zanpakputō, laying on the stand undisturbed. She glided her fingers across the hilt, pass the guard and down the smooth, shiny surface of the sheath.

Her hand pulled the desk chair around and she sat herself down. A few more moments looking at her zanpakuto and she sighed. Hinamori circled the chair around and started her work.

The sun was well gone by the time Hinamori finished her paperwork. She was well outside the office, heading to the training ground with her zanpakutō strapped to her waist.

Standing alone in the grassy plain of the training field lit by the moonlight, she held her zanpakutō in her hands.

"Hajike, Tobiume."

Silence.

"Hajike, Tobiume!"

Hinamori began to panic, her zanpakutō wasn't responding to her command. Her knees collided with the ground and she pierced her zanpakutō into the dirt, holding herself up.

Right when she thought her fears had come true, Tobiume emitted a pink glow swirling around the blade and it transformed into its shikai state.

_What took you so long?_

_**What took you so long to call me.**_

Hinamori gulped. She wanted to avoid where the conversation was going, but sooner or later it would come up. Ever since the time she was on the verge of dying and called Tobiume to manifest herself to finish the job, she was scared she lost the connection between them. If she lost Tobiume, she would certainly be kicked out of Seireitei. After all, what is a shinigami without a zanpakutō? A useless one.

The two continued their conversation in silence, communicating through her soul until Hinamori stood up and sheathed Tobiume.

Hinamori remembered the conversation she overheard earlier that day. There was no way she is going to sit back and let those men surpass her and take the seat she strove so hard to get on her own. Not only that, but she looked back on all the times she had to be saved by her friends, especially by Hitsugaya. That's it. She will not play the role of damsel in distress any more. She decided to achieve bankai.

With Tobiume securely placed at her waist, she use shunpō to head out of the training ground.

A light knock came off the door. The door slid open for Hinamori to greet them.

"Good evening, Abarai-kun!"

"Hey, Hinamori! Come in!" Renji invited her in and sat on the floor in front of the small table in the middle of the room while Renji brought two hot cups full of tea.

"So, what can The Great Renji do for you?" he asked as he placed the tea down and sat.

"The Great Renji is looking very nice in his pink flowery yukata." she chuckled with a hand over her mouth.

Renji dusted off his shoulder, "Oi. Great men can wear anything."

After a few more minutes of laughing, Hinamori straightened up to tell him why she came to see him.

"I was wondering, how did you get bankai?"

Renji chocked on some tea, "Ack- What? You want to get bankai? Why?"

"As a shinigami, it's natural to want bankai isn't it?"

"Well...yes. But you? You've never wanted more after you got your seat as fuku-taichō." he wiped the table where his spit landed.

"Now I do." He looked into her eyes and understood something about her changed and she was serious.

"Well, it's been a long time since I got it." Renji placed a hand on his chin to help him think. "I concentrated my reiatsu (which was very hard to do) into Zabimaru and yelled, 'COME FORTH ZABIMARU!'" He shot his arm up in the arm as he shouted.

Hinamori sweat dropped. Maybe she should have consulted someone else. Probably Hitsugaya, she thought but then..why must she always be dependent on him? No, she's going to do this on her own. Renji's voice snapped her out of her deep thought.

"I kept doing that until he finally came out." He leaned back on one arm and rubbed his stomach with the other. "Then you just fight."

Hinamori nodded. The first time she called Tobiume was a fluke, she didn't think it would work again. It's going to take a lot more.

"Hey, if you have bankai, why haven't they made you taichō?" she asked.

"Eh? I'm not interested. My only goal is to surpass Kuchiki-taichō."

"Or...you didn't get enough approvals!" Hinamori teased.

Renji sat up abruptly, "No way!"

Just then, Byakuya strode by the open doors of the room. Renji got up and ran after him.

"Taichō!" Byakuya stopped and turned his head to Renji, signaling him to go ahead and speak. "Y-You voted for me right? To be captain, right?"

Byakuya didn't respond, not even a hint on his expressionless face for a yes or no. He looked forward and continued his walk.

Renji followed after. "TAICHŌ!!"

Hinamori laughed and excused herself from the table. "Ja ne, Abarai-kun!" She yelled to him but he was already gone around the corner.

It was late in the night, just about everyone except for the patrol units where already in their beds sleeping. Hinamori quietly tip-toed her way into his room. She walked over to his futon and took a moment to watch him sleep. She smiled at how peaceful and not grumpy he looked without his eyebrows furred constantly. Doesn't that get tiring?

Hinamori slid in the bed and laid beside him, careful not to wake him up. She turned her back and closed her eyes to sleep. Suddenly, she was hugged from behind and a groggy voice spoke.

"What kept you."

"I had a lot of paperwork. And I was caught up with a friend. Sorry I woke you."

"Who."

"Abarai-kun."

"Mm. Remind me to punish him."

"Huh? Why?" She giggled softly, she wasn't sure if he was fully awake or just sleep talking with her.

"For keeping you from me." Hitsugaya nuzzled his face into her neck.

She couldn't help but blush at the comment. She hadn't yet gotten used to this side of Hitsugaya since he rarely showed it.

* * *

**This might come out shorter than the first story. **

**It's all lovely-dovey now, but those who read All We Know Is Falling should know better. **

**This is a very challenging sequel because I do not know if I can even top AWISF, especially the last chapter. **

**And did everyone see the official Bleach popularity polls?!?! **

**Hitsugaya is #1, no surprise but hooray!**

**And who is #6 and probably shouldn't be on the top 10 at all but made it anyway because she is awesome and her fandom is not dead? Yes! HINAMORI!**

**I was holding off this story but in celebration of her making #6, I decided to go ahead and post it up. **

**I hope this will entice Kubo to resurrect her back in the story line. After all, she has connections to the most popular character in Bleach, Hitsugaya. And they say the polls do matter. **

**Enough rambling. Thank you very much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2**

* * *

Grey clouds raged above the sky, blocking out the radiant sun to retire it for the rest of the day. Hinamori sat on the rooftop of her office, clutching an umbrella in her shaky hands. Water fell from the sky, starting with sprinkles, then heavy pours. She paced her breathing to ready herself for the oncoming storm. 

Lightning flashed for a split second, followed by a loud clash thunder.

Hinamori shrieked and quickly stood up, "Ahh! I can't do this!"

"Baka. What are you doing up there?" Hitsugaya's voice from below surprised her, causing her to slip on the wet shingles and fall.

Hitsugaya sighed, he stood in place and stretched his arms out. She perfectly landed in his arms.

She awkwardly giggled, "Eh heh heh.."

Hitsugaya gently placed her on her feet. "What were you doing up there? It's raining."

"Well, I'm trying to get over my fear of thunderstorms." She twirled the umbrella in her hand nervously.

Another roar of thunder made her flinch. Hitsugaya grabbed her hand and pulled her into the office, through the adjacent hang-out room full of tables and out the back porch that outlooked a garden. He sat down with his legs crossed and tapped the floor next to him, "Sit."

Hinamori obliged and sat on her legs beside him.

There was a long silence. They were childhood friends but still she felt shy. She hadn't yet fully adjusted to the new Hitsugaya, the now Her Hitsugaya. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the thought. Hinamori glanced at Hitsugaya who was still looking at the sky, she wondered if he felt the same.

He turned his head at her and opened his mouth to ask her what she was staring at but his voice was caught in his through by one of her beautiful smiles. His heart skipped a beat and his cheeks started to feel warm. He quickly looked away.

Hinamori giggled, he felt the same way.

Thunder boomed and Hinamori shook. Hitsugaya placed a hand on hers and gently gave a squeeze. "I'll sit here with you."

Hinamori blushed.

Hitsugaya noticed the tension between them was thickening. He mentally sighed. They were sharing a bedroom and yet with how they acted during the day no one could have guessed. It began one night when Hinamori couldn't sleep though a storm and ran to his room for company. She ended up spending the night and it continued from then.

Hinamori and Hitsugaya often slept in the same room when they were younger, so it was natural to them. And once he was half asleep, he couldn't care less. But everything else that came with every relationship was foreign to the two.

He wanted the tension to disappear so he tried to cut the silence. "Baka. You could have sat here instead of on the roof. There's less of a chance you'd get hit by lightning."

"What? I could get hit by lightning?!" Hinamori jolted up on her feet and hurried to the door.

Hitsugaya grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "Hinamori!"

He sat her down beside him again. He felt guilty as she was staring at him with big watery eyes. "I was just..teasing."

"You're safe, ok?'

Hinamori nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She whispered.

She couldn't see it but he was smiling. Awkward as it was for them to adjust from friendship to love, it felt—what was the word? It felt..right.

"Bedwetter."

"Shor—" Hinamori straightened up and looked at him. He was definitely not short anymore. Calling him short would be calling herself short, he was the same height if not taller.

He smirked at her. No longer will she be able to lecture him about drinking milk or sleeping longer to help his stunted growth.

"Shirō-chan" She smiled.

Hitsugaya inwardly choked. Shiro-chan didn't suit him in the past, it certainly would not now that he was older and taller.

Hinamori noticed and giggled. It was contagious, but he manged to contain himself. He loved to hate the nickname.

Another wave of thunder burst in the air but she did not react this time. Hinamori wrapped her arm around his. They sat listening to the pitter pattern taps of the rain against the rooftop and watched it fall into the pond making the surface of the water dance.

The morning after, Hinamori sat in her room in front of the mirror brushing her hair. She brushed her dark brown locks in an up do and looped the bun with a light golden ribbon that accented her honey dew eyes. She no longer wore the light blue cloth that covered her hair. Instead, it was replaced by a shimmery pink and red flower hair pin that kept her bun in place, a gift from Hitsugaya.

Hinamori closed the polished wooden jewelry box where she kept her hair ornaments, including the old cloth that he gave to her. She couldn't pull herself to throw it away. It had been with her for decades.

She took one last glance in the mirror to check for stray strands of hair. Satisfied, she left the room and made her way to the Senkai Gate. She was assigned a new mission soon after her request to Sōtaichō. While she walked, she reached in her kimono and took out the mobile phone shinigami's used for communication.

Her slender fingers pushed a few buttons, "Ah, here it is."

Hinamori reviewed her mission details. Apparently, a shinigami stationed in the living world had gone missing. It had been two days since his last call-in report and it was up to her to investigate.

She clicked the buttons a few more times to scroll down the screen to where it stated her destination was. "Karakura Town?"

Hinamori looked up to find her feet had already arrived at the gate. She watched the large ruby doors creak open. "Why does it sound so familiar?"

She shrugged her shoulders to worry about it later. Hopefully, when she arrived it would come to her.

A gate formed in the blue sky above the town, unbeknownst to the humans. The girl hopped out the gate and propped herself on the tip of a light pole with one foot behind the other. She took a moment to take in the panoramic view of the city.

Hinamori took out her mobile phone again to find the coordinates where the shinigami last reported in and hopped her way across the buildings.

She landed in the middle of a field that looked to be a playground for children. A quick glance over her shoulder to a cement sign at the entrance of the building told her it was an elementary school. At the edge of the field was a small forest of trees. Hinamori made her way to the forest and was about to enter when something in the bushes reflected the suns rays and the beams caught her eyes. She dug her hands in and cleared the little branches of the bush. The unknown object loosened and fell halfway out.

Hinamori stood up and pulled the sword out. She investigated the blade and confirmed it was a zanpakutō that belonged to a shinigami. Small wrinkles formed on her forehead when her eyebrows arched in worry. With no traces of reiatsu found, she had a feeling she won't be able to find the owner.

To make certain he wasn't still around unconscious somewhere, she searched the radius of the area. Almost an hour passed by when she finally stopped. Her search led her to the end of the small forest. He wasn't in there and that meant he was dead and gone, without a doubt. If he was anywhere else outside the forest, she would have found him already.

Hinamori looked down at the now unowned zanpakutō strapped at her waist next to Tobiume and then pulled out her mobile phone. She reported in to the mission headquarters that she had only found his zanpakutō and that it was certain he was gone, most likely by a hollow.

The mobile phone snapped shut with a click in her hand. She headed across the street and joined the crowd of humans that walked back and forth down the sidewalk. She was feeling gloomy due to the mission and needed something to pick up her spirit.

The shinigami strode along side the humans on the sidewalk, occasionally she walked through a few. Hinamori passed by a few shops she wanted to browse but then looked at herself and remembered she didn't have a gigai on. She sighed, she will have to window shop.

A clothing boutique with interesting womens clothing, a jewelry shop with the most beautiful diamonds and gems she had ever seen, and a bookstore with numerous titles she had yet to read. Hinamori pouted her lips, maybe window shopping wasn't a good idea.

She continued to walk down the sidewalk when the smell of something delicious caught her nose. She stopped in front of a bakery and leaned in against the display glass. She closed her eyes and sniffed in the delightful aroma.

"Aw! It smells so good!" she plopped her hands on the window and stared at the arrangement of various baked goods. A little goop of saliva made it's way to the corner of her mouth and she wiped it on her sleeve.

"Me? I'm a teacher at Ouran Elementary School." A man that passed by spoke through his mobile phone.

_That voice. _

Hinamori glanced up the window at the reflection of the man that passed by.

_It couldn't be._

She whipped her body around with one hand still on the glass window. She watched his back walking off as he continued talking on the mobile phone.

_That voice. _

Time seemed to have slowed down as the man turned the corner of the street, letting her catch a glimpse of his face. It all happened within seconds and he disappeared yet she can still see his face in her head.

_That remarkable resemblance. _

She shook her head. There was no way it was possible.

Was it?

* * *

**A few hundred words shorter than I wanted, but I couldn't let it drag on.**

**Thank you for the reviews/alerts/favs!**

**And most of all,  
**

**Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Me? I'm a teacher at Ouran Elementary School." A man that passed by spoke through his mobile phone. 

_That voice. _

* * *

Thoughts of him ran through her head. There was no way it was possible. He was dead. She wasn't exactly there to see it but if he was actually alive, what would he be doing in the human world anyway? Walking around as one of them. A second, more plausible explanation was that it was reincarnation. That would explain the likeness to him. 

Hinamori rubbed her head with the palm of her hand. That can't be it. It has only been slightly over 10 years. Humans aged exponentially faster than the souls from Soul Society, but 10 years from birth he wouldn't look like a grown man in his mid 20's already.

It had been a long time since she was in the living world but how could she be so rusty on simple human facts. She let out a heavy sigh. What if it was neither of the two and just a coincidence. But with glasses and a captain haori, he was a mirror image of a younger Aizen.

She couldn't let it go. Hinamori quickly ran down the street and turned the same corner. Her feet stopped moving when she saw she entered the shopping district with dozens of shops to the left and right. Crowds of people walked back and forth, in and out of stores.

The girl hoped to find the man again as she walked down the pavement. She glanced through the windows of the stores with the chance he was in one of them.

"This is crazy. I should head back." She told herself as she realized she had lost him already and was beginning to feel like a stalker.

Back in the Seireitei, Hinamori personally reported the findings of her mission to Sōtaichō. There was a long pause as she stood in front of his desk, waiting for his response. The old man has his eyes closed while one hand stroked his long white beard. She couldn't help herself from getting a bit inpatient. What is he waiting for, she wondered. It was a simple report, a open and shut case. All this time wasted and she could have been training for bankai.

A weird snort came from the back of her conscience.

_**Yes, Hinamori. You could have achieved Bankai with the ten minutes you've spent here.**_

_And you'll bite your tongue when it happens?_

Another weird snort, this time louder.

"Please deliver this to Squad 12 to be examined." Sōtaichō nudged the unowned zanpakutō on his desk towards Hinamori.

She bowed and picked up the zanpakutō and turned to leave.

"Afterwards, please prepare for your new mission. You will be taking over the vicinity of Karakura in his place." His raspy voice cut the air.

"Hah?" She whipped around in surprise.

Sōtaichō looked up at her. "Is there a problem? If I remember correctly, you requested for more mis—"

"Ah! No—no problem at all!"

"The attacker was not a simple hollow. I need a high ranked officer to patrol and hopefully eliminate the problem."

She bowed again. "I understand. I'll be on my way."

After she delivered the zanpakutō to the 12th division she stopped by Hitsugaya's office. She knocked on the door and slid the door open without waiting to be invited in.

"Matsumoto-san?" It was an unusual sight to see the fukutaichō sitting at a desk doing paperwork.

Matsumoto looked up at her. "Ah! Hinamori!" She perked up excitedly, now she has an excuse of why half a sheet of report was done.

"Are you feeling alight?" Hinamori asked.

"Just fine. Why?"

"Because you're doing paperwork."

"Now that you mention it.." Matsumoto placed the back of her hand up against her own forehead. "I do feel a fever coming on. I don't think I can continue the paperwork."

Hinamori giggled softly and Matsumoto gleamed a smile. It was nice to see Hinamori back to the way she was before the whole Aizen fiasco. In fact, she seemed even better. With Aizen around, she was always so serious with her work, making sure he didn't lift a finger even though it was her job to assist. Without him, she laughed more and smiled more for herself.

It took a while after Hinamori was released from the hospital for her to stop apologizing to Matsumoto for attacking her with the kidō. Every time she saw Matsumoto, she would quickly bow and apologize. Even though Matsumoto told her to forget about it, she could still see the guilt in her eyes for hurting her friend. Eventually, Matsumoto had to threaten her she would never speak to Hinamori again if she didn't stop and forget it.

"Taichō is out on an errand and then lunch." Matsumoto didn't bother to ask what Hinamori was doing here as it was obvious.

"Oh, ok." Hinamori proceeded to tell Matsumoto of her new mission. "Could you pass it on to Hitsugaya-kun for me? I must leave right away."

"You said Karakura Town, right?" Hinamori nodded.

"Theres a man that owns a shop there. His name is Urahara Kisuke (if I remember correctly), get a gigai from him and buy me the best sake there is!" Matsumoto shoved some money into Hinamori's hands.

"The sake here isn't enough?" Hinamori asked as she was pushed out the door by Matsumoto.

"There's no such thing as 'enough'! Now don't forget, ok?" She waved Hinamori 'bye' with a big smile.

The gate appeared in the sky of the real world. Hinamori stepped out and as soon as both her feet where out of the gate, it closed and disappeared. She stood in the sky and looked at the sheet of paper of the crudely drawn map Matsumoto gave her to find Urahara Shop.

Somehow, Hinamori managed to fellow the map quite well. She landed swiftly in front of the shop. It stood out because it wasn't a modern building that she had expected it would be.

The front door slid open. "Welcome." A girl with dark hair and tied in pigtails stood at the doorway.

"Hurry up and invite them in, Ururu!" A boy with red hair appeared from behind her rubbed his knuckles on her head.

"Ouch! Jinta!" The girl winced.

"Well, are you going to stay out there?" He looked at Hinamori.

"S-sorry for the intrusion!" Hinamori walked up to the door and followed behind the two that led to a room with a table. She sat down on a pillow and waited quietly.

The doors on the other side of the room slowly slid open. She turned her head to the left to greet whom ever was coming. She stared at the doorway, no one was there.

"Ah!" She gasped in surprise and blinked a few times to make sure what she was seeing was real. A tray floated in the air, inches off the ground, with a tea cup. It slowly made it's way to the table where she sat. She watched as the try slid on the table. _This place is amazing! _She thought to herself.

Something small and green appeared from behind the tea cup. It took the tea cup and placed it front of Hinamori.

"It was a modified soul in a doll! Here I thought the tray was magically floating!" She giggled and picked him up. "Kawaii!"

The green turtle plushie blushed.

"His name is Nova." A man with a green and white striped hat smiled behind the fan he held in front of his face.

Hinamori stood up and bowed to properly greet herself. "I'm Hinamori Momo. Lieutenant of Squad 5. Pleased to meet you."

"Ah. A lieutenant. We haven't had such high ranked officer in a long time and a cute one too! Urahara Kisuke at your service, my dear."

Urahara sat down across the table while Hinamori held Nova in her lap. "In need of a gigai?" He asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Unfortunately, I don't have one ready at this moment. If you could give me some time, I'll have one for you as soon as possible."

"That's no problem. I'm stationed here for the time being. Please take your time."

"I'll get on it right away." He smiled a mischievous smile behind his fan. Hinamori didn't notice as she was playing with Nova.

After Urahara and Nova left, Hinamori sat alone the room. She wasn't sure how long it would take so she decided to take a tour of the city. Hinamori stood outside the shop, unsure of where she should start. She then remembered that man. Still curious about him she headed back to the wooded area where she found the zanpakutō. There was a school nearby, an elementary school. She remembered the sign that said 'Ouran Elementary School', the same one where the man said he worked as a teacher.

It was recess time at the school. Little kids were playing all across the playground, on the blacktop, and in the small grassy field. Hinamori found a tree just off the edge of the playground and sat down in the shade of the tree. A small group of kids were playing and suddenly ran off when a girl came up to them. The little girl looked sad that they did not let her join their games, something Hinamori knew all too well of. The little girl started to cry.

Just then, the man—the teacher walked up to the little girl and gently patted her head with his hand. He said something to her but Hinamori was too far to hear. It must have been very nice as the little girl stopped crying and smiled up to him. He responded with a gentle smile of his own. Hinamori was in awe at how much the scene reminded her of Aizen and herself. Anytime she was troubled he would put her at ease with his warm hand on her head, patting away her worries.

The school bell rang and the little students ran inside the building. Within minutes the noisy playground was quiet. Hinamori closed her eyes, the sound of a piano was making it's way to her ears. A beautiful melody. It was calm like a lullaby. Even in the shade, the blanket of warmth by the noon sun covered her body and the lullaby of the piano caused her to slowly drift into a slumber.

A shadow loomed over her sleeping body for a second and quickly disappeared.

Hinamori woke with a slight daze. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked at the sun, her small nap turned out to be two hours long. She quickly returned to the Urahara Shop. Her gigai might be finished.

"Urahara-sama is out. He left your gigai in your room." Ururu escorted Hinamori down the hall to a room.

"My room?" Hinamori questioned. Had he expected her to stay here? She never mentioned it, but she did need a place to stay.

"You do need a place to stay, right?" Ururu approached the door and stopped to ask before opening.

"Yes, but—"

"A freeloader?" Jinta appeared from behind and interrupted her. "Why do we keep sheltering freeloaders?"

"I'm not a freeloader." Hinamori retorted, somewhat annoyed. "I'll pay for it."

"Keh. Suit yourself." The red-headed boy walked off with his hands in his pockets.

Ururu slid the door open and closed it after Hinamori stepped in. Hinamori saw her gigai leaned against the wall wearing a white yukata. She was rather surprised it looked exactly like her. The gigai the 12th division loaned out were all the same. All female and male gigai looked the same, like mannequins at a clothing store. How did he know her sizes?

Hinamori bent down and picked up a note left on the floor beside the gigai.

_Hina-chan,_

_Here is your gigai. It was short notice so I didn't have any other clothing and you're a different size from Ururu so she can't lend you her clothes._

_Luckily, I found this one outfit in the closet! It's your size!_

She looked up from the note to the outfit hanging in the closet.

"Heh? Do they normally wear this?"

After she put on the gigai, she dressed herself with the outfit Urahara left and tied her hair in a loose bun.

Hitsugaya stood outside the door of the shop. "It's been a long time, Hitsugaya-taichō."

He turned around. "Urahara."

"Come, come! It's a rarity to have two special guests in one day!" Urahara walked up the porch and knocked on the door.

"Why are you knocking? It's your shop." Hitsugaya glared at Urahara smiling behind his fan.

"Welcome home, Urahara-sama"

"What the—Hinamori! What are you wearing!" Hitsugaya yelled at Hinamori who wore a maid outfit. The skirt came down to her mid-thighs and she had white knee-high socks, complete with black shoes and a white frilly hand band.

"Hitsugaya-kun! What are you doing here?"

"Why are you wearing that?" A vein on Hitsugaya's forehead popped up.

"Um. Urahara-san said he didn't have anything else for me to wear on my gigai. And since he's letting me stay here, he asked if I could answer the door. Did I do it right?" She turned to Urahara whom was wiping a tear of joy from his eye.

"Hina-chan! Moé!" He clasped his hands together.

The three of them sat down at the table and Nova entered the room with tea cups.

"So, Hina-chan. How does the gigai fit?" Urahara asked, ignoring the annoyed Hitsugaya to his left.

"It fits very well. It's amazing how you got my sizes so well without measuring or anything!"

Urahara fanned himself, gloating. "It's my special talent of mine. Do you like the clothes as well?"

To Hitsugaya's surprise she nodded her head. "It's very cute. Although, I didn't see many humans wearing this."

"Oh, it's a very special outfit. Only cute girls like you can wear it."

Hinamori blushed and smiled. Hitsugaya slammed his hands on the table and stood up. His cup of tea knocked over, Nova promptly came with a towel and cleaned it up.

"What's wrong, Hitsugaya-kun?"

"Come on, we're going shopping." He grabbed her hand.

"Hitsuguya-taichō, don't you need a gigai too? I still have yours in storage."

"If you haven't noticed, I grew!" He snapped at Urahara.

"Oh my. You have. Give me a moment and I'll have a new one for you!" He pranced out the door, still high on the joy Hinamori gave him at the door.

"So much for your 'special talent'." He scowled.

Hinamori blinked at Hitsugaya, did the vein just get bigger?

* * *

**Jinta was referring to Renji the freeloader. In the anime it was hilarious!**

**Thank you for reading/reviewing!**


End file.
